Close Up speaks to a renowned architect as he claims a destroyed building in
the 9/11 attacks collapsed due to controlled demolitions.

Everyone can remember the collapse of the World Trade Centres in New York in
2001, but not many can accurately recall that not two, but three buildings went
done.

Tower 7, as it was called, collapsed in the afternoon of September 11th, 2001,
but failed to gain notoriety because it was never hit by a plane, yet still
it came down.

Which is exactly what troubles internationally respected architect Richard
Gage, who’s causing a stir in the USA for claiming that the buildings were instead
destroyed by controlled demolitions with explosives.

– Close Up speaks to a renowned
architect as he claims a destroyed building in the 9/11 attacks collapsed due
to controlled demolitions.

TRANSCRIPT

Provided by Janice Matthews
[11/28 Correction – The Close Up host’s name has been corrected. JM]

Close Up’s Mike Hosking:

No one can ever forget those horrific images of 9/11. Remember them? The planes
smashing into those buildings on a sunny New York Day.

And then, of course, the collapse of not just two but three World Trade Buildings.
You remember Tower 7, as it was called? It collapsed in the afternoon of September
11 but it failed to gain notoriety because it was never hit by a… Continue reading →

AE911Truth will hold a press conference on Friday,
February 19, at 11:00 AM at the Marines
Memorial Club and Hotel in San Francisco. We will announce and honor the
milestone of our achievement of obtaining 1,000
architects and engineers (A/E’s) petitioning for a real investigation into
the destruction of the 3 World Trade Center skyscrapers.

The Marine Memorial Club and Hotel in the heart of San Francisco provides
a first-class backdrop for announcing AE911Truth’s achievement

Invitations are being sent to more than 400 local AIA members, to many local,
national, and international media outlets, and to more than 15,000 AE911Truth.org
petition signers and supporters from around the world.

The press conference will include a large-screen scrolling display of all 1,000
A/E’s; statements by Richard Gage, AIA, founder of AE911Truth and several petition
signers; and a short ten-minute presentation of “9/11: Blueprint for Truth”
— the explosive evidence for the engineered destruction of the 3 World Trade
Center skyscrapers. A press kit including the AE911Truth DVD will be made available
to all attendees.

We will also be inviting various leaders in the 9/11 Truth movement to this
milestone event. We are working with We Are Change and other 9/11 Truth
organizations to deliver hardcopy petition
evidence press kits to every member of Congress.

A fund-raising and working luncheon will be held after the press conference
in… Continue reading →

In the past year, in response to emerging independent science on the 9/11 attacks, nine corporate, seven public, and two independent media outlets aired analytic programs investigating the official account.

Increasingly, the issue is treated as a scientific controversy worthy of debate, rather than as a “conspiracy theory” ignoring science and common sense.

This essay presents these media analyses in the form of 18 case studies.

Eight countries — Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Russia — have allowed their publicly-owned broadcasting stations to air the full spectrum of evidence challenging the truth of the official account of 9/11.

This more open approach taken in the international media — I could also have included the Japanese media — might be a sign that worldwide public and corporate media organizations are positioning themselves, and preparing their audiences, for a possible revelation of the truth of the claim that forces within the US government were complicit in the attacks — a revelation that would call into question the publicly given rationale for the military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

The evidence now being explored in the international media may pave the way for the US media to take an in-depth look at the implications of what is now known about 9/11, and to re-examine the country’s foreign and domestic policies in the light of this knowledge.

High resolution video of Press Conference, San Francisco,Part 1
of 7:
Celebrating a milestone event in the long history of the 9/11 Truth movement
– over 1000 Architects and Engineers have taken a close look at the evidence
and concluded that the government’s cover story does not resolve the facts.
This is the first in a 7 part series documenting the magnificent event held
at the Marine’s Memorial Club & Hotel in San Francisco.

A lingering technical question about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks still haunts
some, and it has political implications: How did 200,000 tons of steel disintegrate
and drop in 11 seconds? A thousand architects and engineers want to know, and
are calling on Congress to order a new investigation into the destruction of
the Twin Towers and Building 7 at the World Trade Center.

“In order to bring down this kind of mass in such a short period of time,
the material must have been artificially, exploded outwards,” says Richard
Gage, a San Francisco architect and founder of the nonprofit Architects &
Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

Mr. Gage, who is a member of the American Institute of Architects, managed
to persuade more than 1,000 of his… Continue reading →

A right-wing neocon organization called the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD)1 — which devotes itself to attacking religiously and socially progressive churches while supporting US imperial policies (going back to the Nicaraguan Contras funded illegally by the Reagan administration2 ) — has recently put out a press release attacking my next book, which is scheduled to be published this coming fall. Saying that I am “back with another outrageous book” in which I allege “new absurdities,” the IRD claims that I am “this time alleging that the Obama administration is attempting to undermine 9/11 conspiracy theorists.”3

Editor’s Note:

The IRD’s “9/11 Conspiracy Theorist Dreaming Up New Absurdities” can now be read online, here: www.theird.org/Page.aspx?pid=1449. Dr. Griffin’s speaking tour details, April 23 – May 8, can be found here.RELATED: Excellent David Ray Griffin Interview on God.TV

Last September, Dr. Griffin was interviewed by God TV, the End Times show. It reaches over 100 million people worldwide by TV, plus others on the Internet.
It was aired on Friday night at 5:30 PM PDT and turned out to be an excellent interview, really professional. The hosts, Rory and Wendy, are gracious and delightful. Just a simple, straightforward interview that freed David to take his time to explain things. It’s also on their website: http://www.god.tv/video/play?video=1219. Part 2 will be shown live this Friday at 5:30 Pacific, 8:30 PM Eastern. [Originally posted at 911blogger.com]

In 2009, I published a little book entitled Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? 1 Much evidence, I showed, suggested that Osama bin Laden had died on or about December 13, 2001. (Although this book was ignored by the US press, it received major reviews in British newspapers, 2 and it even provided the basis for a BBC special. 3 ) Pointing out that the only evidence to the contrary consists of “messages from bin Laden” in the form of audiotapes and videotapes that have appeared since 2001, I devoted one chapter to an examination of the most important of these tapes, showing that none are demonstrably authentic and that some are almost certainly fakes.

In the chapter preceding that examination, I discussed two videotapes containing purported interviews of Osama bin Laden in the fall of 2001, when the issue was whether he had been responsible for the 9/11 attacks. I suggested that both of these tapes, in which bin Laden allegedly admitted his responsibility, were fakes. If they were, I pointed out, this fact would increase the likelihood that all of the “Osama bin Laden tapes” appearing in the following years – when the question of whether he was still alive was added to that of his responsibility for 9/11 – were also fakes.

The clearest example, I argued, was the most famous of the so-called bin Laden confession videos. Having allegedly been found in a private home in Jalalabad,… Continue reading →

At 5:21 PM on 9/11, Building 7 of the World Trade Center collapsed, even though it had not been hit by a plane — a fact that is important because of the widespread acceptance of the idea, in spite of its scientific absurdity, that the Twin Towers collapsed because of the combined effect of the impact of the airliners plus the ensuing jet-fuel-fed fires. The collapse of World Trade Center 7 (WTC 7) thereby challenges the official account of the destruction of the World Trade Center, according to which it was accomplished by al-Qaeda hijackers, even if one accepts the government’s scientifically impossible account of the Twin Towers. This fact was recently emphasized in the title of a review article based on my 2009 book, The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7, 1 by National Medal of Science-winner Lynn Margulis: “Two Hit, Three Down — The Biggest Lie.” 2

1. Why the Collapse of WTC 7 Created an Extraordinary Problem

The collapse of WTC 7 created an extraordinary problem for the official account of 9/11 for several reasons.

An Unprecedented Occurrence

One reason is that, because of the collapse of WTC 7, the official account of 9/11 includes the dubious claim that, for the first time in the known universe, a steel-frame high-rise building was brought down by fire, and science looks askance at claims of unprecedented occurrences regarding physical phenomena. New York Times writer James Glanz, who himself has a Ph.D. in physics, wrote: “[E]xperts… Continue reading →

A group called New York City Coalition for Accountability Now ( NYC CAN ) is working with Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth on a campaign to make the New York City Council launch an investigation into the anomalous destruction of World Trade Center Building 7.

The group emerged a little over a year ago to reorganize the petition drive for the ballot initiative that city officials eventually deemed legally invalid because it sought powers to initiate an investigation that State law doesn’t confer upon citizens. Officials claimed that such powers are properly the domain of existing city agencies, the Manhattan District Attorney and the federal government.

NYC CAN, a coalition of 9/11 survivors, family members, first responders, and concerned citizens, is focusing on New York City’s 51-member city council rather than creating a new referendum. Group representatives, including NYC CAN’s Executive Director, Ted Walter, Bob McIlvaine , whose son Bobby was killed in the 9/11 attacks, along with engineers Tony Szamboti and Mike Donly, have already discussed 9/11 related issues with seven council members, and reported that all but one were supportive.

McIlvaine said his only role in the meetings is to represent his son, Bobby. Explaining how he became involved in 9/11 activism, he said, “On April 8, 2004, I was absolutely livid after the testimony of Condolezza Rice. I’ve… Continue reading →

Using the McChrystal Moment to Raise a Forbidden Question

There are many questions to ask about the war in Afghanistan. One that has been widely asked is whether it will turn out to be “Obama’s Vietnam.”1 This question implies another: Is this war winnable, or is it destined to be a quagmire, like Vietnam? These questions are motivated in part by the widespread agreement that the Afghan government, under Hamid Karzai, is at least as corrupt and incompetent as the government the United States tried to prop up in South Vietnam for 20 years.

Although there are many similarities between these two wars, there is also a big difference: This time, there is no draft. If there were a draft, so that college students and their friends back home were being sent to Afghanistan, there would be huge demonstrations against this war on campuses all across this country. If the sons and daughters of wealthy and middle-class parents were coming home in boxes, or with permanent injuries or post-traumatic stress syndrome, this war would have surely been stopped long ago. People have often asked: Did we learn any of the “lessons of Vietnam”? The US government learned one: If you’re going to fight unpopular wars, don’t have a draft — hire mercenaries!

There are many other questions that have been, and should be, asked about this war, but in this essay, I focus on only one: Did the 9/11 attacks justify the war in Afghanistan?… Continue reading →

According to several left-leaning critics of the 9/11 Truth Movement, some of its central claims, especially about the destruction of the World Trade Center, show its members to be scientifically challenged. In the opinion of some of these critics, moreover, claims made by members of this movement are sometimes unscientific in the strongest possible sense, implying an acceptance of magic and miracles.

After documenting this charge in Part I of this essay, I show in Part II that the exact opposite is the case: that the official account of the destruction of the World Trade Center implies miracles (I give nine examples), and that the 9/11 Truth Movement, in developing an alternative hypothesis, has done so in line with the assumption that the laws of nature did not take a holiday on 9/11. In Part III, I ask these left-leaning critics some questions evoked by the fact that it is they, not members of the 9/11 Truth Movement, who have endorsed a conspiracy theory replete with miracle stories as well as other absurdities.

I. The Charge that 9/11 Truth Theories Rest on Unscientific, Even Magical, Beliefs

Several left-leaning critics of the 9/11 Truth Movement, besides showing contempt for its members, charge them with relying on claims that are contradicted by good science and, in some cases, reflect a belief… Continue reading →

So why should we believe that “9/11 Truth” can stop the war in Afghanistan and bring the “War on Terrorism” to an end?

I will lay out below the non-conspiratorial reasons why it is vitally important that we continue to demand accountability from our governments, on why it is they went to war on our behalf in 2001. I will also argue why I am correct to strongly assert that the pursuit of 9/11 truth and a criminal investigation of those events is the only practical path to peace today. Details of an upcoming Sydney “9/11 Truth for Peace” Protest on September 11th, 2010 are at the bottom of this article.

On the 11th of September 2001 the world entered a very dark chapter of its history! We were promised a 100 years of war in this “New American Century” fighting “the terrorists” wherever the American Empire deemed they were, and at the time of their choosing. We were told that this “New Pear Harbor” event carried out on 9/11 by the CIA born Al-Qaeda was a fair and reasonable reason to carry out a preemptive strike against their supporters the Taliban, by the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.

The vast majority of the world’s population and its governments rallied behind the US determined to fight Islamic terrorism together world wide. Although some more skeptical… Continue reading →

The International Center for 9/11 Studies has secured the release of hundreds of hours of video footage and tens of thousands of photographs used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for its investigation of the collapse of the World Trade Center Twin Towers and Building 7. This material is being released to the Center under the Freedom of Information Act, in response to a lawsuit the Center filed against NIST.

The Center filed a FOIA Request with NIST on January 26, 2009, seeking production of “all of the photographs and videos collected, reviewed, cited or in any other way used by NIST during its investigation of the World Trade Center building collapses.” Following several unsuccessful attempts to get NIST to even acknowledge receipt of the Request, the Center was forced to file a lawsuit on May 28, 2009. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the Request was assigned a reference number, and NIST began periodically releasing batches of responsive records. To date, the Center has received over 300 DVDs and several external hard disk drives that contain responsive records – more than 3 terabytes of data so far – and NIST has indicated that additional records will be released in the future.

We are currently looking at the best ways to distribute these materials to interested researchers and journalists around the world. It has taken NIST more than 8 months so far to produce a partial archive of photographs and… Continue reading →

On the eve of the 9th anniversary of 9/11, support for the war in Afghanistan took a serious blow yesterday. Simultaneous press conferences were held in New York and Los Angeles to present startling new information refuting the official 9/11 narrative, used to justify the war. Also announced were three major professional groups which have joined the worldwide, and ever-growing, “9/11 Truth Movement”.

In a striking show of unity, representatives of “Scientists for 9/11 Truth”, “U.S. Military Officers for 9/11 Truth” and “Actors & Artists for 9/11 Truth” presented their findings and unveiled their eye-opening websites. Each non-profit group has launched a petition calling for a new, transparent investigation.

In NY, representing “Scientists”, Professor Niels Harrit said, “The official account put forth by NIST violates the fundamental laws of physics and chemistry.” Harrit is Prof. Emeritus at the University of Copenhagen and was lead author for a 2009 peer-reviewed study that revealed evidence of high tech explosives throughout the WTC dust.

In LA, physics teacher David Chandler discussed the swift destruction of the WTC towers, including Building 7, the little-known third tower. Having demonstrated its free fall, he confronted the US government agency NIST with his analyses and forced NIST to revise its November 2008 Final Report on WTC 7. NIST’s Draft Report had claimed free fall was impossible but NIST ultimately acknowledged WTC 7 was in absolute free fall for over two seconds. Concluded Chandler, “Free fall is physically impossible without explosives”.

This is the actual 10-minute statement read by Richard Gage, AIA, to the media at the AE911Truth press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC on September 9, 2010.

Good afternoon, my name is Richard Gage, AIA. I’m a member of the American Institute of Architects; I’ve been a licensed architect for 22 years; And I’m the founder of the non-profit organization, Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth (AE911Truth).

As a group, we now have more than 1,270 architect and engineer petition signers. Collectively, we have more than 25,000 years of building and technical experience. This press conference is being given by our petition signers and supporters today in 65 [it turned out to be 67] locations around the world, including 30 states and 4 countries.

Today, we’re here to inform you that we have uncovered evidence that the official investigations into what happened to the World Trade Center skyscrapers on 9/11 were deeply flawed, or worse. The scientific forensic facts we have discovered have very troubling implications.

This follows the discovery, by the United States Geological Survey and others, of high concentrations of unusual previously molten iron-rich microspheres in the WTC dust. These microspheres can only have been formed during the destruction of the World Trade Center at temperatures far higher than can… Continue reading →

Over the last century, the most astounding historical discoveries of man-made artifacts have often been accomplished by well-funded, highly experienced researchers. From the excavation of King Tut’s tomb to the sighting of the sunken Titanic, stunning finds have required immense financial and human resources, as well as the leadership by distinguished. So, how did a mountain of never-before-seen footage used in NIST’s World Trade Center investigations get exposed to the light of day last month? Was it the work of a billionaire adventurer? Not quite. You can thank an upstart non-profit, the International Center for 9/11 Studies, whose efforts have at last borne fruit.

The International Center for 9/11 Studies was founded in 2008 by Director James Gourley, a Texas lawyer who began questioning the events of 9/11 after watching a presentation given by David Ray Griffin on C-SPAN.

“I was just floored by what I was hearing,” Gourley explained, “and I’ve been looking into 9/11 ever since then.”

In order to encourage a better understanding of the 9/11 attacks and promote scientific study of these tragic events, Gourley assembled a small team of trusted colleagues, which includes physics instructor David Chandler, activist Dr. Graeme MacQueen, and Justin Keogh, the Center’s Chief Technical Officer. The Center has partnered with other key researchers in the past, including physicist Steven Jones and chemist Niels Harrit.

Since its inception, the Center has contributed to groundbreaking work… Continue reading →

David, who describes himself as a “pacifist”, talks in great depth about his journey on the campaign for 9/11 Truth and Justice to which he is passionately dedicated. Many of you may be aware it was David who is credited with getting NIST to admit WTC Building 7 fell at a an acceleration consistent with free-fall due to gravity, which I and many others view as the single most powerful debating tool for us as 9/11 Truth advocates! David disputes he is solely responsible for this and says that Jones, Ryan and others were central to this achievement but it was his question that drew the answer in the end so it seems. David also talks about the highly political timing and nature of the NIST Building 7 report.

“Investigate Building 7″, conference held at the University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT on March 26, 2011, sponsored by Investigatebuilding7.org (formerly Building What ? campaign)

Video of presentations from Investigate Building 7 Conference, March 26, 2011, graciously posted by Radical Pragmatist on his blog at 911blogger.com.

The Case for a New Building 7 Investigation

I. Foreknowledge of Building 7’s Collapse by Dr. Graeme MacQueen First of a three-part presentation, “The Case for a New Building 7 Investigation” Introduced by Dr. William Pepper, International Human Rights Attorney

Even though World Trade Center Building 7 is said to have been the first steel-framed building in history to undergo total collapse due to fire, there were many people who knew the building was going to collapse long before it did. In this presentation, the evidence for this peculiar foreknowledge will be summarized and its significance discussed. The argument will be made that it is impossible to explain this foreknowledge on the basis of the collapse hypothesis offered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The only hypothesis that explains this foreknowledge is the controlled demolition hypothesis.

II. The Evolution of the Fire-based Theory for Building 7 by Kevin Ryan The second in a three-part presentation, “The Case for a New Building 7 Investigation” Introduction and Commentary by Dr. William Pepper

This presentation will examine the attempts by government-sanctioned investigations to provide a theory for the fire-induced, non-explosive destruction of World Trade Center Building 7. In particular, the presentation will cover… Continue reading →

Here I field questions that come to me fairly often, to help get the facts out and to counter misrepresentations and misunderstandings. I expect to make edits for a while and welcome comments.

1. Can nanothermites (also called superthermites) be explosive?

The definition of “explosive” can lead to endless debates. Is a flash of light required? Is a loud sound required? How loud? What rate of energy generation is required for a material to be called an explosive? Where is the line between low explosives and high explosives? Rather than getting mired into ad nauseum debates, I will use the term “explosive” in conjunction with superthermites/nanothermites IF the national defense laboratories which developed these materials use the term. Here we go.

“Researchers can greatly increase the power of weapons by adding materials known as superthermites that combine nanometals such as nanoaluminum with metal oxides such as iron oxide, according to Steven Son, a project leader in the Explosives Science and Technology group at Los Alamos. “The advantage (of using nanometals) is in how fast you can get their energy out,” Son says. Son says that the chemical reactions of superthermites are faster and therefore release greater amounts of energy more rapidly… Son, who has been working on nanoenergetics for more than three years, says that scientists can engineer nanoaluminum powders with different particle sizes to vary the energy release rates. This enables the material to be used in many applications, including underwater explosive devices… However, researchers aren’t permitted to discuss what practical military applications may come from this research.” (Gartner, John (2005).…